And one-half to divco detroit corpora



E. R. WHITNEY March4, 1930. DELIVERY TRUCK Re.'17,610

Original Filed Feb. 7, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet l E. R. WHITNEY DELIVERYTRUCK March 4, 1930.

Original Filed Feb. '7. 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. R. WHITNEY DELIVERYTRUCK R I firlginal Filed Feb. "7, 1923 March 4, 1930.

6 Sheets-Sheet s E. R. WHITNEY March 4, 1930. DELIVERY TRUCK Re. 17,610

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Feb. '7, '1923 Wm o we Re. 17,610 '5Sheets-Sheet 5 E. R. WHITNEY v DELIVERY TRUCK Original Filed Feb..'?',1923.

Marah 4, 1930.

E. R. WHITNEY March 4, 1 930. DELIVERY TRUCK Re. 17,610

Original Filed Feb. '7, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 T M '32 I .I 26 2/ y l 4 r1 24 z5 L y 45/ Q J 50 w 74 L J Original No. 1,619,775, dated March 1,1927, Serial No. 617,540, filed February 7, 1923. Application ReissuedMar. 4, 1930 UNI D STATES PATENT OFFICE EDDY R. WHITNEY, 0FPHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO WALKERVEHICLE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLI- NOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS, ANDONE-HALF TO DIVCO DETROIT CORPORA- 'IION, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ACORPORATION OF MICHIGAN DELIVERY TRUCK reissue filed February 28,

One object of this invention is to provide a motor vehicle with a novelconstruction of chassis and body particularly designed for use indelivery service where stops are frequent and deliveries many and closetogether as, for instance, the retail delivery of milk, said vehiclebeing primarily made with a View to facilitating its operation by adriver occupying any of several positions, and-more especiallypermitting of convenient access from a number of points to the boxes orpackages carried.

I further desire to provide a delivery truck of the above noted typehaving a transverse passage intermediate the ends thereof and opening onboth sides of said truck to permit of the boxes or other objects carriedbeing stowed both in front and to the rear of it so as to beconveniently accessible from either side of the truck as well as fromthe rear end thereof; the inventionalso contemplating a noveldisposition of the controlling apparatus for the truck whereby it may be0 erated by a driver in either a standing or in a sitting position.

Another object of my invention is to provide a delivery truck having athrough passage with a novel form of drivers seat adjustable into andout of it at will and bearing a convenient relation to an electriccontroller and steering wheel as Well as to a brake-operating means 'sopositioned as to be actuated by a driver when the latter is occupyingthe seat or when he is in a standmg position in the passage.

I also desire to provide a delivery truck having the above notedcharacteristics with a novel arrangement of brake mechanism operative bya driver from either a standing or a'sitting position.

Another object of my invention is to providea delivery truck especiallydesigned for operation by an electric motor or motors sup plied withcurrent from a storage battery and having a body and chassis adaptedtoprovide for 1929. Serial No. 348,448.

a through transverse passage for a driver to the rear of the battery,said passage being so positioned as to permit boxes or cases beingcarried both in rear side.

These objects and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter setforth, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which,

v Figure 1 is a side elevation of a delivery truck constructed inaccordance with my invention; 1

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 22, Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of theframe of my delivery truck;

Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line -5-5, Figure 3;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical section taken longitudinally of thetruck. and illustrating my preferred arrangement of brakecontrollingmechanism and the parts of the frame associated therewith;

, Figure 7 is a plan. of the frame and braking mechanism shown in Figure6;

Figure 8 is an enlarged vertical section showing the preferredconstruct-ion of one of the side doors of my delivery truck;

Figure 9 is a horizontal section on the line 9-9, Figure 8 and Figures10 and 11 are side and front ele vations partly in section, illustratinga form of drivers seat constituting part of my invention.

In the above drawings, 12 represent parallel, longitudinally extendingbeams or girders, each constituting one of the side members of thechassis of my vehicle, consistfront of it and on its ing of a frontsection 1, a rear section 2, and

and forwardly from the point of junction of the members 6 and 7 to theframe member 1 and a second brace 9 is extended upwardly and rearwardlyfrom the point of junction;

of the frame members 3 and 4 and the frame member 2. The two trussesformed by the above frame elements 1-9 are substantially parallel andare braced and tied together by transverse members 10-19. The frameformed by these members and said trusses is I supported in any desiredand suitable manner on two pairs of wheels indicated at 90 and 91. I

Thespaces defined by the two sets of frame members 57=-61 aresubstantially recof wheels or rollers 29 tangular in outline. andtogether with cross floor beams 92, form a casing for the reception of astorage battery, while the space 23 defined by the two sets of framemembers 345 constitutes a through passageway immediately to the rear ofthe battery casing and of substantially the same depth.

On the chassis above described is .mounted a suitable closed body havinga floor portion 20 in front of the passageway 23 and a second or mainfloor portion 21 to the rear of said passage. The latter itselfpreferably has a floor 22, a front wall 20 'and a rear wall 21, the bodybeing otherwise made up of sides 24-24, a top 25, a front 26 and anextension 26 from the front generally similar in position and form tothe cowl of an engine driven motor vehicle. is a hood 27. v

The front 26 is preferably made in the form of a rectangular framestructure having a glass window therein (not shown) and each of thesides 24 has in it an elongated vertical opening 23 extending from thetop 25 down to the level of the floor 22 of the passage 23, whichopening is provided with a door structure 28 slidable in a verticalplane, for which purpose it is provided with a pair attached to its topedge and slidable in a suitable guideway 30 from a position in which itcloses the pass sage 23 to a positionto the rear of said passage andparallel with the adjacent portions of the side 24, the lower edge ofsaid door structure being in the drawings.

To makepossible this sliding action of the door, it is preferably madeto include an upper section 31,which has in its top half a window 32,and a bottom section 33. This latter is vertically slidable so that whendropped itmay close the lower portion of the At the front of thisextension passage 23 andwhen raised maylbe held guided by a rail 30 asshown 7 flush with or clear of the bottom edge of the section 31permitting the latter to be moved to the rear to completely open thethrough passage 23. For the purpose of holding the section 33 in itsraised position its upper part has a projection 34 designed-to cooperatewith a spring catch 34 on the upper part of the member 31.

For propelling my truck I provide suitable electric motors (not shown)designed in the present instance to drive the rear wheels 91 andsupplied with electric current from a storage battery in the casingorbox 93. The

operation of the vehicle is governed by an electric controller 35mounted under the cowl portion 26 of the body and supported so as to berearwardly inclined at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal. Thiscontroller is operated by a hand wheel 36 fixed to a tubular stem 37,through which also extends a steering post actuated from a steerin wheel38 parallel with and immediately a jacent the controller wheel 36. Thissteering post is connected to govern the position of the front wheels 90in the manner well understood in this art and the steering andcontrolling wheels are so positioned as to be conveniently accessiblefor and readily operative 'by a driver standing in the passageway 23.

The braking mechanism for the truck iii-- cludes a rod or link 39extending rearwardly from a lever arm 40 to any suitable brake bands orother devices operative on drums applied to the rear wheels 91. In orderto permit of the convenient operation of these brakes (not shown) by adriver standing in I the passageway 23, I fulcrum in the latter anelongated pedal lever 41 having a foot plate 42 and operative on acollar 43 fixed to a rod or link 44 whose lower end is connected throughar bell crank lever 45, a link 46, a second bell crank lever 47, and alink 48, with a lever arm 49 fixed to a transversely extending shaft 50.This last shaft is carriedin bearings below the frame members2,'immediately to the rear of the members 3 and to it are also fixedarms 40 which operate thebrakes through the links or chains .39.

It is to be noted that the end ofthe lever 41 which engages the collar43 is so formed as" to permit independent longitudinal movement of thelink 44 and said lever has pivoted to it a toothed segment 51 movablethrough] an opening in a plate 52, mounted in the floor 22, the partsbeing so arranged that said segment will cooperate:with tlieedge of saidopening to hold the foot-engaged end of the lever "41 in any'depressedposition with the brake mechanism applied. This segment is formed" withan arm 53 projecting adjacent.

thefoot plate 42 so that it' may be applied by the foot of the driverand a spring 54 is connected between the segment and the lever 41 so asto tend to disengage said teeth from the floor plate. f

rise

In order to permit the braking mechanism of the truck being operated byhand, I also provide a hand lever fulcrumed to a suitable suportingstructure mounted on the front floor section 20 and projecting upwardlyimmediately to the rear of the controller 35 at one side thereof. Thishand lever has fixed to it an arm 56 connected through a link 57 with anarm 58 fixed to a short shaft 59. To this shaft is also fixed a bellcrank lever 60 having one of its arms connected to the upper end of thelink 44. The second arm is connected through a link 61 with a secondfoot lever 62 fulcrumed to a bracket 63 immediately adjacent the handlever 55. The latter has associated with it a toothed segment 64cooperating with a spring-actuated dog 65 controlled by a handle 66 onthe upperend of the hand lever 55 and the arrangement is such that thebrakes may be set or released at will by operating any one of the threeelements comprised by the foot levers 41 and. '62 or the hand lever 55.

The latter is so positioned as to be conveniently grasped and operatedby an operator standing in the passageway 23, while the foot lever 62 isin such a position that it may be conveniently operated by a driver whenthe latter is seated upon a chair or seat mounted in the spaceimmediately above the passageway 23.

While it will be understood-that this seat may have any desired orsuitable construction, I preferably provide adjacent the rear 3 side ofthe floor 22 a socket 80 designed to receive the lower end of avertically extending bar or stem 81. The latter lies against the rearwall 21 of the space 23 and has its upper end laterally braced andproperly positioned by a retaining strap or guide 82. On the upper endof the bar 81 is mounted the seat proper indicated at 74 and this issuitably carried by an angle brace 83.so as to project forwardly overthe space 23 at the height necessary to support the driver of the truckin a sitting position. 'VVhen desired, the seat may be removed bydrawing it upwardly so that the bar 81 slides out of the retaining strap82, thus leaving the space or passageway 23 clear as may be required forcertain purposes.

When the seat has been-positioned as shown in the drawings it may beconveniently used by a driver in operating the truck for relatively longor non-stop runs. When however, the driver desires to make a number ofstops at short intervals and is compelled to repeatedly enter and leavethe truck, as is necessary in delivering milk, for example,

the seat may be removed out of the way of the driver who may stand in orpass through the passageway.

From the above description it will be apprecia'ted that a truckconstructed as above described is particularly adapted for thetransportation and delivery of milk in bottles. The latter arecustomarily placed in boxes containing a dozen and it is customary cessto the different grades of milk or cream,

etc., without being required .to frequently shift the positions of theboxes and he may also have access to the latter from the rear of thebody.

By the arrangement shown, relatively large storage spaces are providedfor the milk boxes and it is obvious that the driver may,

easily and quickly have access to the bottles therein because of theconvenient positionof the passageway 23 which allows entry of the truckfrom either side thereof. It will further be noted that the bottom ofthe passageway is but a short distance above the ground level, so thatit is an easy matter to enter and leave the truck and operate the latterwith a minimum of delay in making the frequent stops and short distanceruns necessary in delivering milk for domestic purposes.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination in a motor vehicle of a main frame made in twosections, and a depression between the two sections of the frame forminga transverse passage, means for suspending the floor of said passagefrom the said main frame, and a. battery carrier, the floor of which isattached at its inner end to the suspended floor structure of thepassage, while the forward end is suspended' from the main frame:

-2. The combination in a motor vehicle of a frame having downwardlyextending portions defining a transverse passage, a body mechanismconsisting oflinks and levers extending from the main frame and underthe floor of the passage, an actuating lever for the brake mechanism onthe front floor of the main frame, and a second actuating lever for thebrake mechanism located within the transverse passage.

4. In a motor vehicle the combination of a chassis having downwardlyextending portions defining a transverse passageway, a

tuation while the operator is standing in said passageway.

5. In amotor vehicle the combination of a chassis having-front and rearwheels, a platform for the operator supported by the chassis one stepabove the ground and depending below the chassis providing standingheight clearance, a closed body on the chassis extending over saidplatform and having an opening at the side thereof between the front andrear wheels, steering mechanism within sald body accessible fromsaidplatform, conv i, trol means'for. accelerating the vehicle operablefrom said platform and pedal controlled brake means operable whilestanding on said platform.

6. In a motor Vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a platform for the operator supported by the chassis onestep above the ground, a closed body on the chassis extending over saidplatform and having an opening at the side thereof between the front andrear wheels, said body having a top spaced above said platform providinga clearance'for an operator while standing on said platform, loadcarrying floors both forwardly and rearwardly of said side opening,control means for accelerating the vehicle and pedal controlled brakemeans, both of said control means being operable from said platform.

7. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a drop platform for the operatorsupported by the chassisone step above the ground and below the chassis level thereby providingstand-' ing height Hearance,-a closed body on the chassis extendingover'said platform and having an opening at the side thereof between thefront and rear wheels, a door on said body adapted to be closed when theoperator is within the vehicle on said platform, control means foraccelerating the-vehicle operable from said platform with the doorclosed, and pedal controlled brake means also operable from saidplatform with said door closed. i

8. In a motorvehicle, the combination of a chassis having front and rearwheels, a platform for the operator supported by the chassis one stepabove the ground, a closed 7 body on the chassis extending over saidplatform and having an opening at the side thereof between the front andrear wheels, said is within the vehicle on said platform, control meansfor accelerating the vehicle opr' able from said platform with the doorclosed,

and pedal controlled brake means also oper able from said platform withsaid door closed.

9. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a platform for the operator supported by the chassis onestep above the ground, a closed body on the chassis extending over saidplatform and having an opening at the side thereof between the front andrear wheels, said body having a top spaced above said platform providingstanding height clearance, a door at the side of said body slidablelongitudinally thereof to close said opening when the operator is onsaid platform within said body, control means for accelerating thevehicle operable from said platform with the door closed, and pedalcontrolled brake means also operable from said platform with said doorclosed.

10. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a platform'for the operator supported by and extendingdownwardly from the chassis one step above the ground, a closed body onthe chassis extending over said platform and having an opening at theside thereof between the front and rear wheels, said body having a topspaced above said platform providing standing height clearance, loadcarrying floors both forwardly and rearwardly of said side opening, adoor at the side of said body slidable longitudinally thereof to closesaid opening thereby confining the space above said platform within saidbody, control means for accelerating the vehicle operable from saidplatform with the door closed, and edal controlled brake meansalsooperable rom said platform with said door closed.

11. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a platform for the operator supported by the chassis onestep above the ground, a closed body on the chassis extending over saidplatform and having an opening at the side thereof between the front andrear wheels, said body having a top spaced above said platform providingstanding height clearance, control means for accelerating the vehicleoperable from said platform, control means for braking the vehiclelocated forward of said platform and operable from said platform, andadditional pedal controlled brake means operable while standing on saidplatform.

12. In a motor vehicle,the combination of I a chassis having front andrear wheels, a platform for the operator supported bythe chassis onestep above the ground, a body on the chassis having an opening at theside thereof between the front and rear wheels and above said platform,said body having a top spaced above said platform providing standingheight clearance, a brake pedal accessible tothe operator while standing011 said platform, a separate brake pedal, accessible to the operatorwhen sitting within said body, and a third brake operating meansmanually operable.

13. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a platform for the operator supported by the chassis onestep above the ground, a body on the chassis having an opening at theside thereof between the front and rear wheels and above said platform,said body having a top spaced above said platform providing standingheight clearance; steering means within said body accessible from saidplatform, a brake pedal accessible to the operator while standing onsaid platform, a seat mounted within said body and movable intooperative position adjacent said steering mechanism, and a separatebrake pedal accessible to the operator when seated on said seat.

14. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis and body includinga passageway extending transversely thereof, said chassis having frontand rear wheels, and said passageway being intermediate said front andrear wheels at'a low level providing standing height clearance, steeringoperating mechanism accessible to the operator while standing upright insaid passageway, controlling means for the vehicle accessible to theoperator while standing in said passageway and additional controllingmeans for the vehicle arranged forwardly of the first mentionedcontrolling means and accessible to the operator when seated in saidpassageway.

15. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having front andrear wheels, a body on said chassis, a platform for the operatorsupported by said chassis at a low level providing standing heightclearance between the same and the top of said body, steering operatingmechanism accessible to the operator while standing on said platform,controlling mechanism accessible to the operator while standing on saidplatform, and load carrying floor sections both forwardly andrearwardly. of said platform.

16. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a chassis having downwardlyextending por-,

tions defining a transverse passageway, front and rear wheels for saidchassis, a body having a top spaced above said passageway to providestanding height clearance, said passageway extending completely acrossthe'vehicle and providing standing height clear ance for the full lengththereof whereby the operator may pass completely throu h the vehicle inan upright position, said bo y having side openings at the ends of saidpassageway between the front and the rear wheels, steering operatingmeans operable while standing in said passageway, control means

